Ishita Jain and Naomi Kundu bring to you the most inspiring read for you and your young ones! The Girl Who Went to the Stars recounts the adventure of fifty of the most amazing Indian women and their extraordinary lives. Celebrating the achievements of remarkable women like Amrita Sher-Gil, Mary Kom, Indira Gandhi and many more, this book is sure to become a favourite with your kids.
Here are some interesting things about a few of these women!
Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla always wanted to work at NASA and dreamt of going to the stars. However, her first application to NASA was rejected but she did not lose hope. She tried again and got accepted the second time, making her dream a reality!
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Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil’s voyage to becoming one of the most well-known painters in the world began when she was a young girl. She began to travel to faraway places in order to learn how to be a painter when she was as young as 13 years old!
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Mary Kom
Even though Mary Kom’s parents were against her taking up boxing, she remained adamant on what she wanted and secretly joined a boxing school. Over a period of time, she became the best boxer in the school, kick-starting her marvellous journey of becoming the first Indian woman boxer to win a medal at the Olympics!
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Bachendri Pal
Bachendri Pal’s adventurous career of becoming a professional mountain climber began when she was 12 years old. While on a picnic with her friends, she ended up climbing 4000 metres! Since then she never looked back.
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Lata Mangeshkar
Before making it big in the film industry as a singer, Lata Mangeshkar tried for many singing jobs but was rejected because people found her voice too shrill and high-pitched.
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Kiran Bedi
As a young girl, Kiran Bedi loved playing tennis with her father. She practised every day and at 17 years old became the national junior tennis champion!
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P.T. Usha
P.T. Usha’s first race was against another student in her school who was the school champion. She ran as fast as she could and won the race. This inspired her to take part in many more competitions and realize her dream.
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Usha Uthup
When Usha Uthup was a young girl in school, she used to love singing with other children. But she was asked to leave the music class as her voice was not sweet and soft like many others. However, she never gave up on her love for singing and went on to become one of the most-loved voices of India.
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Indira Gandhi
Growing up watching her father struggle for India’s independence, Indira Gandhi decided to join her father in the struggle when she was 21 years old. She impressed people with her hard work, devotion and intelligence.
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Ismat Chughtai
Being an avid reader since she was a young girl, Ismat Chughtai always wanted to write stories about girls and their lives. She finally got the inspiration to begin writing about women when she saw one of her friends at college, Rashid Jahan, writing beautiful stories about real women. And so she started writing stories herself.
Find out how India’s most admired women followed their dreams.
